Alleged bishop abuse victim demands federal investigation

An alleged abuse victim of a Bronx bishop who recently resigned from Our Lady of Refuge is demanding a police investigation into other victims' claims against priests in the parish.

Michael J. Meenan does not consider himself a victim, but a survivor of sexual abuse of the cloth. Joined by supporters, Meenan is demanding a federal investigation into claims from two other women who allege they were sexual abused as teenagers in the 1970s by Monsignor Charles McDonago, who died in 1999.

"The New York state Attorney General needs to get on this case, the Bronx District Attorney needs to get on this case," says Meenan. "We need to get to the bottom as to what was going on in this area of the Bronx, in this parish in terms of the sexual abuse by clergy."

Meenan has been outspoken about his own alleged sexual abuse at the hands of bishop John Jenik. Back in October, the Archdiocese of New York removed Jenik from the Bronx parish after they found the allegations to be credible. Jenik has denied all accusations against him.

Advocates say the archdiocese and Cardinal Timothy Dolan have yet to publicly acknowledged these allegations of abuse within Our Lady of Refuge. They are demanding the church release information about the two priests.

In a statement the archdiocese says, "The Archdiocese of New York had never received an allegation against him until someone came forward with an allegation of abuse."